By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Reggie Okosa ruled the paint with 32 points and 12 rebounds and Kim Joo-sung added 20 points as the Dongbu Promy routed the Samsung Thunders 101-88 Thursday in the opener of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) championship series.
Playing in front of a loud home crowd at Wonju's Chiak Stadium, Promy pounded the ball to their colossal inside duo of Okosa and Kim, who burned the undersized Thunders defenders to build a massive early lead the team never relinquished.
Carlos Dixon contributed 15 points and point guard Pyo Myung-il had 12 points and 9 assists for Promy. Terrence Leather had 24 points for the Thunders while Kang Hyuk added 19 points.
Lee Sang-min, the much-heralded Thunders point guard and two-time league most valuable player (MVP), picked a bad time to deliver his worst game as a pro, failing to register a single point, rebound and assist in less than 12 minutes of play.
``Our defensive effort in the first two quarters was impressive, and we were able to get easy buckets off mistakes of our opponents," said Promy coach Chun Chang-jin, who predicted his team to win the best-of-seven series in less than five games.
``The Thunders' defense was clearly focused on Kim, and Okosa made most of the open looks he got. I think our back court is as strong as what the Thunders have, although the mobility of their big men will be a concern for us for the rest of the series."
Kim and Carlos Dixon added 8 points apiece in the first quarter and Okosa exploded for 18 points in the second as Promy marched off to a 56-31 lead by halftime, the biggest first-half margin ever for a KBL championship series game.
The Thunders responded with urgency coming out of the locker room in the third quarter, with Leather leading the way with 16 points.
The visitors seem to finally find some breathing room below the rim after Okosa was benched after picking up his fourth foul with less than two minutes left in the third.
Lee Kyu-sup, who was scoreless in the first half, hit a three pointer with a minute and 17 seconds left in the quarter to cut the lead to 72-59.
However, Kim responded with four unanswered points to expand the lead to 78-61 to break the collective will of the visitors.
With the Thunders defenders preoccupied on Okosa and Kim, Promy's reserve guard Kang Dae-hyup capitalized on the open spaces in the perimeter, scoring 8 points in the fourth quarter including two 3-pointers to ice the game.
The Thunders' Victor Thomas, who averaged 19.4 points in the regular season, was held to 11 points, while Kyu-sup, a 15-points-per-game scorer, was limited to 3 points.
``Our 14 turnovers in the first half killed our flow and we gave up two many rebounds," said Thunders coach Ahn Joon-ho.
``It was only one game out of a possible seven and we have a chance to make it a series if we concentrate and execute better," he said.